The Sarasota Thunder were a professional indoor football team based in

Sarasota, Florida Sarasota () is a city in Sarasota County on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The area is renowned for its cultural and environmental amenities, beaches, resorts, and the Sarasota School of Architecture. The city is located in the sout ...

. They played in the

Ultimate Indoor Football League The Ultimate Indoor Football League (UIFL) was a regional professional indoor football league that began its inaugural season on February 18, 2011 as the Ultimate Indoor Football League before playing as the United Indoor Football League in 2012 ...

(UIFL) for part of the 2013 season before folding. The Thunder initially announced

Robarts Arena Robarts Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Sarasota, Florida, located on the Sarasota County Fairgrounds. Built in 1967, it has a seating capacity of about 4,000. In 2011, Robarts Arena is undergoing $500,000 in capital improvements. The a ...

as their home venue, though they played all their games on the road.

Franchise history

In August 2012, the Sarasota Thunder was announced as the third 2013

expansion team An expansion team is a new team in a sports league, usually from a city that has not hosted a team in that league before, formed with the intention of satisfying the demand for a local team from a population in a new area. Sporting leagues also ...

of the

. This was the second attempt to bring an indoor football team to Sarasota, the first being the

Florida Scorpions The Florida Scorpions (originally the "Florida Knights") were an indoor football team. They were a 2008 expansion member of the American Professional Football League. They played their home games at the Manatee Civic Center. They played their ...

of the

National Indoor Football League The National Indoor Football League (NIFL) was a professional indoor football league in the United States. For their first six years, the league had teams in markets not covered by either the Arena Football League or its developmental league, A ...

. The team announced they would play their home games at

. In September 2012, the Thunder named Greg Walls the franchise's first head coach. Before the season, however, the league took over control of the Thunder and shifted them to an all-travel schedule, with no home games in Sarasota. The team played very poorly, generally losing in blowouts. Their performance caused disruption through the league, as their host teams had difficulty drawing fans to such lopsided games. On May 9, the

Florida Tarpons The Florida Tarpons were a professional indoor football team based in Lakeland, Florida, out of the RP Funding Center. Originally established in Estero, Florida, and playing out of Germain Arena, they began play in 2012 as an expansion team of th ...

– whose owners also owned the UIFL – announced the Thunder had forfeited a scheduled game against them; the league subsequently folded the team.

Coaches of note

Head coaches

Coaching staff

Season-by-season results

References

External links

Sarasota Thunder official site
{{UIFL Former Ultimate Indoor Football League teams American football teams in Florida 2012 establishments in Florida 2013 disestablishments in Florida Sports in Sarasota County, Florida American football teams established in 2012 American football teams disestablished in 2013